patients. They also need to make them more welcoming to diverse
employees.
Obviously one reason is the law. For more than 50 years, organiza-
tions with 15 employees or more have been prohibited from discrimi-
nating against people because of skin color, religion, national origin,
disability, gender, age or veteran status.
Organizations with federal contracts must comply with stiffer affir-
mative action policies, including establishing and complying with quo-
tas for hiring women, ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities
and veterans. For decades the government did not consider hospitals
to be subject to these policies, but as of 2010, that attitude has
changed. The government now considers hospitals that participate in
HMOs where federal civilian employees are beneficiaries and those
that provide services to the Department of Veterans' Affairs, Federal
Bureau of Prisons or Department of Defense to fall under these rules.
Another reason is that patients who are racially diverse may feel
more comfortable interacting with staff who share their racial identity.
Studies show that when patients see role models from their own
groups in positions of power it can reduce the effect of stereotype
threat on performance. In the words of former Hewlett Packard CEO
Lew Platt, we "need to be like our customers, including the need to
understand and communicate with them in terms that reflects their
concerns."
6
Unfortunately, it's typically not possible to match patients with physi-
cians who are members of their own groups. For example, just 6% of
physicians are African American, Hispanic or Native American, where-
as 31.5% of the population is. The American Hospital Association's
Institute for Diversity observes that Hispanics and blacks represent
31% of patients nationally, but hold a mere 14% of hospital board posi-
tions, 12% of executive leadership positions and 17% of first- and mid-
1 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9
